Hugh Lyle Carmichael
| Lt.-General Sir Hugh Lyle Carmichael | |
|---|---|
Courtesy of the National Army Museum, London
|
|
| Born | 1764 Dublin, Ireland |
| Died |
11 May 1813 (aged 49) Demerara, South America |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Battles/wars |
Battle of Grenada Siege of Santo Domingo (1808) |
| Other work | Lieutenant Governor of Demerara |
Lt. General Sir Hugh Lyle Carmichael (1764-1813), was a British officer of the 2nd West India Regiment. He was Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces at the Siege of Santo Domingo. He was Lieutenant Governor of Demerara from 1812 until his death the following year. He was a strong proponent of giving native Caribbean troops the same rights as ordinary British soldiers.
Born at Dublin, Ireland, in 1764, he was the son of Hugh Carmichael (1720-1776) and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Hugh Lyle, of Coleraine, Co. Londonderry; formerly the Captain of a Regiment of Dragoons. His grandfather, Andrew Carmichael (1675-1759), was the grandson of Samuel, brother of the 2nd Lord Carmichael. Andrew came from Scotland to Northern Ireland where he was Provost of Dungannon and married at Killyleagh his cousin, Anne Montgomery, niece of Hugh Montgomery, 1st Earl of Mount Alexander. Carmichael's sister, Eleanor, married the son and heir of Theaker Wilder, nephew of James Steuart, Admiral of the Fleet.
Carmichael is noted for recognising the value and usefulness of incorporating native Caribbean troops into the British Army. In 1797, he wrote that they were not only critical militarily, but their strength and stamina had been proven by their having to carry British soldiers through the heat and over the rocks at the Battle of Grenada. He campaigned for the right of slave soldiers to give evidence at Military tribunals. White and black soldiers alike were brutally flogged for violating military rules, but Carmichael found a more humane method to be equally as effective: During his eleven years as Lieutenant-Colonel of the 2nd West India Regiment, Carmichael instead demoted native offenders to a position resembling that of a common field slave - deprived of weapons and appointments and employed only on fatigue duties.
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